Killing the Spider

Lust and impure thoughts and actions are rooted in the lack of charity and love we have toward one another.

The Root Cause of Lust
In order to free ourselves from the grasp of this irascible demon of lust which tirelessly clings to our souls with relentless tenacity, each of us needs to introspectively search for, identify and understand this root cause and how it operates.

A very holy Carmelite priest, Father Dominic Borg, O.C.D., recently gave the following explanation:

Going to confession and purging our sins only clears away the sin. It doesn’t address the root cause. It is like a spider spinning a web. Confession clears away the web, but the spider is patient. He lurks in the background and waits for a time. Then, he slowly and quietly begins to rebuild his web. After a while, we are back committing the same old sins all over again. The pattern becomes a roller coaster of Sin – Confess – Sin – Confess. We find ourselves in this habitual cycle, unable to break free.

This happens because, somewhere along the way, we have formed an attitude of arrogance, an attitude which says that we don’t need God, that we can do it all ourselves.

So what does God do? He withdraws His hand and withholds His support. God says to us, “Do you think that you don’t need me? That you can do it all by yourself? Do you think that you are better than they are? Look and see what you are without My help!”

In no time at all, there we are, found wallowing in our own weakness, helplessness, sin and misery for all to see.

                Instead of just clearing away the web each time that we sin,
                                            we need to kill the spider.

        Lust and the impure actions that accompany it are not rooted in the flesh
              but in the lack of charity and love we have toward one another.

Being condescending and judgmental towards others while, at the same time, holding on to an unkind, impatient, uncharitable and selfish attitude and demeanor are what cause the lust to bubble forth.
Instead of growing into the loving, giving, kind and patient person that God intended, the attitude becomes ingrained in our psyches of treating others as mere objects of personal gratification. To make matters worse, out of guilt we seek consolation. This perverse form of consolation tacitly and inevitably manifests itself in the flesh. By this means, before we even know what happened, the anger-lust-guilt habit has become self-perpetuating.

                       Where true charity and Christian love are lacking,
                                purity will be found wanting as well.

The causes of our lust, therefore, are often times quite disassociated from the lust itself.

What to do?
The first step is to perform an honest personal inventory and look for the spiders that dwell within you.
Start by examining your relationships -

· Do you have problems at Home? At Work? At School?
   What are they? When did they begin? Who is or was involved?

· What are the sources of stress in your life?

· Where and how is charity lacking in your life?

· Where and under what circumstances are you most prone to being judgmental of others?

· Toward whom is your anger, hostility, impatience or animosity directed?

· Summarize - What, for you, provides the most fertile environment for growing your spiders?

Find your spiders. Come to recognize them. Root them out. Ask God to help you kill them.
Make the environment of your being totally unsuitable for the spider and he will leave.

Sacred Scripture identifies the principal demon of impurity. His name is asmodeus. The Archangel Raphael defeated asmodeus, enabling Tobias to enter into a Holy marriage with Sarah. (Book of Tobit)
Ask St. Raphael to help you in your struggles against this spider, this demon that stalks the recesses of your soul.

Take the Next Step
Reconciliation and healing, charity and love are what we need and what others need from us. Begin this conversion, this healing transformation by giving God and prayer a bigger and more prominent role in your daily life. Put God first, then, let go and let God.

You will be all the better for it and so will all of those around you.

A word of warning: After all of your hard work, make absolutely certain that God fills the void left by the spider, lest bigger and stronger spiders come along and take up residence in its place.